To Blog Or Not To Blog…

For our final blog in Media Criticism we were asked to go through some of our classmates’ blogs and read their posts. Then choose 3 posts to comment on, providing constructive criticism and advice for their future blogging endeavors.

Some people love hyperlinks, some love pictures, and some love straight copy.

Blogging is an art, something I most definitely have not mastered, but it is a skill that is very useful in today’s technology savvy world. Blogs are also becoming a popular deal breaker during job interviews.

So I gave it a shot. Hoping I gave constructive criticism to those I commented on, inspired those who read my posts, and didn’t offend others.

I read Meghan Roth’s post, “Culture of Consumption” and found her take on the consumerism movies very interesting. Here is my comment on her blog:

“Meghan, you have a great conversational style of writing. Your blog is easy to read and you give great explanations for concepts that readers outside of our class might not know. The pictures you included demonstrated what you were talking about and were not just used as filler.

Your definitions of ideological criticism, ideology, and political economy were very helpful in understanding the assignment and your critique of the movies. I wish I would have read those definitions before our exam because it would have helped me better understand ideology!

I must have missed the part of the “Consuming Kids” movie that talked about deregulation in the 1980s. It was very interesting how advertising to children via television sparked such a frenzy and now we just accept that most toy and product advertising is done through television and that it has the most impact.

I loved your example from “Gilmore Girls.” I love that show but never noticed the Pop-Tarts until the example was mentioned in class. It would have been cool to see a clip from “Gilmore Girls” demonstrating your example.

You had a few spelling and grammar mistakes in your blog but not to the point that it took away from the overall impact of your discussion. Double checking your spelling and grammar could improve your credibility to readers outside of our class. Other than that, you did a wonderful job and I enjoyed reading your post!”

I then read John Collingsworth’s post, “The Betty White Explosion” because I have been a Betty White fan my entire life and was curious to see what a peer had to say about her. Here is my comment on John’s blog:

“John, you choose a great text to examine, one that many people have seen and enjoyed. This commercial was hilarious and won over a lot of viewers. Your style of writing is perfect for a blog: short sentences, bullets, and hyperlinks.

You provide a very textbook definition of narrative analysis which is helpful for those outside of our class but I would have liked to see a simplified definition or example after.

You did an awesome job analyzing the text and identifying the target audience for that Snickers campaign. I think you should incorporate more links in your blog, maybe from Snickers or something more about Betty White’s Hollywood history.

But, I most definitely have to disagree with your assumption that “Five years ago, if you were to ask anyone under the age of 35 if they have ever heard ofBetty White or could name any television programs she was in, there would be baffled faces.” I have been watching Betty White in “Golden Girls” and other shows since I was very young.

My mother and grandmother have always been huge fans of her and I have many other friends and family members, who are close to my age, who knew of Betty White before she was in the Snickers Super Bowl ad. Yes, that ad definitely spiked her popularity among our age group but be careful with those sweeping generalizations Dr. Nichols warned us about!”

I chose John Barr’s post “Sex Still Sells” for my last classmate review because I do not watch a lot of sports channels and found his critique of the ad very interesting. Here is my comment on his blog:

“John, the title to you blog post is catchy and true! I think some of your terms could use more explanation because readers outside of our class may have no clue what a signifier is or what semiotics examines.

From reading your post, I learned a lot about ESPN and the Van Heusen commercial that I have seen a thousand times. I like how you not only looked at the commercial itself but what it could possibly represent because of the model and journalist/comedian shown.

I think it is interesting to look deeper into the ads on sports channels because it seems like they are extreme attention-getters for their audience first, then selling a product second.

There are a lot of alcohol commercials and commercials such as the one you examined that have a well-known sports figure talking but an attractive woman with the product. Looking at all of your blog posts, you use a lot of great pictures that aren’t just fluff but help prove your point. You also use a lot of links which is great for readers to find more information about the topic.

There are a few grammar mistakes in your post. They don’t take away from the discussion but to outside readers, it could lessen your credibility.

I think it would be good if you provided your readers with a clip of the commercial to refresh their memory or just in case they haven’t seen the commercial. Great job though!”

So today, it seems everyone has a blog. Some are for school, some are for advice, some are just pointless rambling from a stranger. People use it to complete assignments, share ideas, or give readers a play-by-play of their day.

I enjoyed using blog for this class because it allowed us to be creative, adding pictures, clips, and links to our assignment and not just typing up a Word document and handing it in.

It is hard to give your classmates advice or critique their posts when you know that you yourself have the same struggle with writing the perfect blog post, incorporating the best pictures and most helpful links for your readers.

Using WordPress allowed us to read what our classmates had to say about a particular topic and gave us the opportunity to provide feedback on their posts. In most classes you would never get to read a classmate’s homework and maybe challenge them or commend them on their ideas.

I think it is a great tool to use in class, especially a class that is examining and criticizing modern forms of media.

I hope those who have read my posts have enjoyed what they read and if not I encourage comments and discussion. I am very opinionated person and blogging allows me to share my views with people whether those views are asked for or not!